Market Monitor: UK Apr 2017 – Mar 2018
Key Takeaways
  • Gross gambling yield from remote gambling reached its highest level ever during the period generating more than £5.35 billion.
  • Online poker operators collected over £107 million in revenue during the period.

Gross gambling yield (GGY) from remote gambling (mostly online gambling) in Great Britain reached its highest level ever during the period of April 2017 – March 2018 generating more than £5.35 billion, according to figures released by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) last week.

The record-setting figure represents an increase of 12.8% over the previous annual period.

Online casino games excluding poker attracted more revenue from customers (£2.82 billion, 53% of total online revenue from the UK) than any other online gaming vertical. Online poker represented just 2% of online GGY, with just over £107 million.

Under UK gaming regulations, online gaming operators licensed in the jurisdiction can also offer their services to customers outside of Great Britain. Including revenue from these customers takes the total amount of online gaming revenue collected under UK licenses from £5.35 billion to £5.62 billion, an increase of 4.8%. Online poker generated an additional £4 million from customers outside of Great Britain.

One way in which online poker differs greatly from other online gambling verticals is in the area of software. Figures provided by the UKGC show that almost 77% of the revenue generated by online poker in the UK was derived from proprietary software, as opposed to licensing agreements in which online gaming operators utilize the software of a third party with which they share revenue. Online slots utilized the second highest proportion of revenue from proprietary software with just under 34%.

The £78 million generated from online poker proprietary software (in total) represents the highest amount since the current regulations were implemented in November 2014.

Overall, online casino games (including poker) brought in nearly £3 billion in the UK. Online slots represent 68% of the total revenue generated in the online casino vertical. Peer to Peer games (poker) brought in 3.6% of all online casino games.